Automatic baling machine



T. S. PEARSON ET AL -AUTOMATIC BALING MACHINE April 6' 1926.

Original 1919 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS THO/HA6 .s. PEARSON JOHNH.65NTBY' April 6 1926. 1,579,777

T. s. PEARSON Er AL- AUTOMATIC BALING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 mvsm'onsTHOMAS $.FEAH6ON .J'DHN HGZNTEY A TOR/VEY.

' April 6 1926.

T. s. PEARSON ET AL AUTOMATIC BALING MACHINE $71!. N Ma 4 I I ll t s aJ5. h OF N S T .E R v 0 a M w 6 A e M g 1 6 HO T Y 5 Original Filed 6,1919 April 6 1926.

T. s. PEARSON ET AL AUTOMATIC BALING MACHINE Original Filed 6, 1915GSheets-Sheet 5 INVEN T088.

THOMAS SJZJFSON JOHN H. SEA THY 1% 'I 'OHNEY April 6 1926.

T. S. PEARSON ET AL AUTOMATIC BALiN MACHINE Original Filed 6. 1919 6Sheets-Sheet l l 1 I l x ll Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNITED STATES sure THOMAS s. PEARSON, AND JOHN H. GENTRY, or KOKOMO,INDIANA, Assrenons, BY

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO SAID GENTBY AND CARL A. 'PORATH.

AUTOMATIC BALING MACHINE.

Application filed November 6. 1919, Serial No. 336,189. RenewedSeptember 29, 1925.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS S. PEARSON and JOHN H. Gnivrnr, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Kokomo, county of How ard, State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticBaling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic baling machines of that typeemployed primarily for baling hay, straw and the like, and the primefeature of the invention is the provision of means for carrying a balingwire transversely through the machine from one side and intojuxtaposition to a similar wire on the opposite side ofthe machine andcontinue the lateral movement of the two wires until they are broughtinto position to be severed and united together.

A further feature of the invention is in so constructing the wirecarrying means that the wires will be engaged at separated points andcarried a distance laterally of the face of-the baling chamber, thatportion of the wires between the separated points being substantiallyparallel with the face of the machine.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of combined grippingand twisting means whereby, when the wires have been severed at a pointbetween the separated points, the ends of the wires will be gripped andtied together, one end being tied around a bale and the other to receivematerial to be baled.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means forinstantly operating the gripping mechanism coincident to the severing ofthewires so that the severed ends of the wire will be positively held inengagement with the twisting or knot tying mechanism. g

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means forintermittently opf crating the Wire cutting and twisting mech- I 7anism. A further feature of the invention is in so constructing themeans for operating the wire carrying means that the plunger of thebaling machine may make innumerable strokes without operatlng thesition.

chamber when a sufficient quantity of the material has been entered inthe baling chamber to form a bale, said plunger being so constructedthat the wire carrying means will pass through the head of the plungerand notcome in contact withthe material within the baling-chamber. i

A further feature of the invention is the provision of means forpositioning that portion of the wires immediately beyond the partsthereof held parallel with the faceof the baling machine, in line to bepositively engaged and held by the gripping devices, such positioningmeans being carried by the wire carrying means. i i

v A further feature of the inventlon isthe provision of means forholding the tiedends of the wires in position to receive material to bebaled so that said wlres will not be drawn rearwardly and into the pathof the material, during the rearward movement of the plunger.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter more fully set forth inthe accompanying specification.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application:

Figure l is a side elevation of a baling machine showing the grippingand twistingv mechanism thereon. I Fig. 2 is a similar view of theopposite side of the machine showing the wire carrying mechanism for,moving one wire through the machine and the means for operating thesame.

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary top plan view of the machine with parts brokenaway, with the wire carryingm'eans in inoperative po- Fig. 4 is a topplan view of the machine, showing the wire carrying means in operativeposition. I

Fig. 5 is a vertical, transversesectional view as seen on line 55 Fig.2.

Fig. (3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view as seen on line 66Fig. 3. V Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the wire carrying needle withparts broken away.

Fig. 8 is an edge elevation thereof.

- Fig. 9. is an endelevation of one of the gripping and twisting devicesremoved from the machine. f v

F ig. 10 is a'sectional view thereof as seen on line 10 10 Fig. 9. V p

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorre sponding parts throughout the severalviews, 1 indicates the balingchamber of the machine and 2 indicates a plunger adapted to reciprocatein said chamber for forcing the material being baled into one end of thebaling chamber.

It is the main object of this invention to provide means forautomatically binding sections of wire around the bale while still inthe baling chamber and to accomplish this result, strands of wire 3 andare arranged on opposite sides of the baling chamber, said wires beingdispensed from rolls of wire in any suitable manner, and when firststarting the baling operation, the free ends of the opposed wires areextended laterally through the baling chamber and secured together andthe secured end then engaged with a detent 5, to prevent the wires beingdrawn back with the plunger, should the plunger make a stroke before anymaterial is placed in the baling chamber.

' As the material is forced into the baling chamber, the wires onopposite sides of the baling chamber are carried along with the materialand consequently extend across one end of the bale 6 and along theopposite sides thereof. lVhen a sufficient amount of the material hasbeen entered into the baling chamber to form the proper sized bale, asection of the wire 4 is carried laterally through the baling chamber bymeans of a needle 'Z, thereby disposing a section of the wire 4 acrossthe inner end of the bale and a similar section across the balingchamber so as to pass across the end of the nextsucceeding bale when itis formed.

There are two or more strands of wire passing along each side of thebaling chamber and consequently there are a like number of the needlesfor carrying the wires through the baling chamber. Each needle rests andtravels upon the upper face of a platform 8, each platform passingthrough a slot 9 in the plunger 2 and are carried by and movable withthe plunger, so that the needles do not come in direct contact with thematerial being baled on their passage through the baling chamber, asthey travel in the rear of the pressing face of the plunger.

The wire engaging end of the needle is preferably bifurcated so as toprovide separated extensions 10 and 11, each of which is slotted and insaid slots are placed grooved sheaves 12 and 13, respectively, thesesheaves engaging the wire 4 when the needle is moved forwardly andcarryingthe wire 4 through the baling chamber. The bifurcated end of theneedle passes entirely through and a distance beyond the baling chamberand consequently engages the wire 3 and carries it, with the wire 4, adistance laterally of the baling chamber, that portion of the wiresbetween the bifurcated ends 10 and 11 being substantially parallel withthe side face of the baling chamber while the sections of the wiresbetween the bifurcated ends 10 and 11 and the face wall of the balingchamber extend at an angle to the face of the wall of the balingchamber.

The portions of the wires 3 and 4 between the ends 10 and 11 are movedto position between the jaws 14 and 15 of shears 16, the jaw 14 beingstationary while the jaw 15 is pivoted so as to be lowered intoengagement with and sever the wires between the jaws. Just previous tosevering the wires, the angularly ertei'iding portions 17 thereof areengaged by grippers 18 and 19, which are arranged in pairs on opposite.sides of the needle, so that coincident to the severing of the wiresthe grippers will be operated to engage the angularly extending portionsand hold them while the severed ends are being tied together.

The wire 4 passes through a guide block 20, mounted on the platform 8,said wire passing around a sheave 21, carried by the guide block, andconsequently the wire is held slightly under tension as it is forcedthrough the baling chamber, that portion of the wire passing across theinner end of the bale, frietionally engaging the detent 5 to prevent thewire cutting into the contents of the bale. 1

The transversely extending portions 22 and 2?) of the wire 4 are spreadapart and caused to-pass between the grippers 18 and 19 respectively, byspreader arms 24 and 25, which are pivoted at their inner ends to theframe 26 carried by the needle 7, the outer swinging ends thereof havinggrooved sheaves 27 and 28, respectively, mounted therein, with which thesections of the wire 4 engage. The under faces of the arms 24- and haverollers 29 and 30 thereon, which travel in grooves 31 and 32respectively, in the platform 8, said grooves being so arranged that thearms will be spread out substantially fan shaped at the end of theinward stroke of the needle 7, thus forcing the sections of the wires 3and 4 between the grippers and holding them there until the grippershave operated and clamped the wares.

The needle is likewise guided in its travel through the baling chamberby providing a roller 33, which is rotatably at tached to the under sideof the needle and travels in a groove also formed in the platform 8, thelower end of the roller 33 having a peripheral head 35 which enters achannel 36 of greater width than the groove 34, the overhanging wall ofthe channel holding the needle from moving upwardly as it travels backand forth over the face of the platform 8.

The needle 7 is moved transversely through the baling. chamber 1 bymeans of a crane 37, to the free end of which the outer end of theneedle is pivoted, the opposite end of the crane being attached to ashaft 38, rotatably mounted in an extension 39 of the platform 8, thecrane 37 being preferably fixed to the shaft. It is understood, of.course, that there are two or more of the needles, and consequentlythere are two or more of the platforms, each having an ex tension 39 andas the shaft 38 is pivoted through all of the extensions, said shaftwill be held securely in an upright position. It will likewise be seenthat as the platform 8 and extensions 39 are attached to the plunger 2,they, together with the needles 7 will travel back and forth with theplunger as the plunger reciprocates in the baling chamber.

As the needles and parts associated therewith for operating them arecarried by the plunger and travel therewith, and as the cranes are to beswung in an arc'of a circle while traveling back and forth with theplunger, a crank arm 40 is attached to the shaft 38, preferably at apoint above the cranes, the free end of the crank arm having a trunnion41 thereon which travels in a guideway 42 formed on the under faceof aplate 43, said plate being attached to and carried by parts of thebaling chamber.

It is necessary for the plunger to make a number of strokes beforeenough material has been compressed into the baling chamher to form abale, consequently it is necessary to hold the needles inoperativeduring these strokes until the bale has been formed, therefore theguidewayconsists of a straight section 44 and an angularlydisposedsection 45, the straight section permitting the crank arm totravel with the stroke of the plunger without operating the cranes,while the an gularly disposed P01131011, when the trunnion 41 enterstherein, causes the cranes to swing in an arc of acircle and operate theneedles, during the stroke of the plunger.

The travel of the trunnion in said guideways is controlled by a switchpoint 46, which is pivoted to a stem 47, projecting through and pivotedin the plate 43, the opposite end of the switch being so positioned thatwhen the switch point is swung;

laterally in one direction, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, the crank arm will travel in a straight line, and when movedto the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, the crank arm will beswung later; ally and the needle operated.

The movement of the switch point is'contro-lled'from a disc 48 mountedupon a driven shaft 49, said disc having a notch 50 in the edge thereofwith which cooperates a rod 51, said rod extending forwardly along theside of the baling chamber and connecting at its forward end with alever 52, fixed to a vertical rod 53, this rod in turn being provided atits upper end with a lever 54. Connecting the lever 54 with a lever 55on the upper end of the stem 47, is a pitman .56 andso long as the endofthe rod 51 is seated in the notch 50, the switch point 46 will preventthe trunnion from entering the angularly extending portion 45 of theguideway, but when the disc 48 starts to rotate and the end of the rod51 moves out of the notch 50, the vertical rod 58 will be rocked and theswitch point positioned across the straight guideway and cause thetrunnion v41 to enter and travel in the portion 45 of the 'guideway andconsequently rock the crank arm and operate the parts connectedtherewith.

The disc 48 is intermittently operated by a clutch'controlled sprocket57, driven by a sprocket chain 58, a clutch lever 59 being so situatedthat when the disc makes a complete revolution, it will strike a latch60,"

which operates to stop further rotation of the disc. The notch 50 is solocated that when the rotation of the disc is stopped, the notch will bein registration with the end of the rod 51 and said end is caused toenter the notch by means of a spring 61, one end of the spring beingattached to the lever 52 and the opposite end to parts of the balerframe.

To insure that'the needles will travel for- Wardly their full distance,the ends of the cranes 37 to which the needles are pivoted, are providedwith rollers 62 which engage cam faces'GS-B attached to the side of thebaling chamber, said cam faces being so located that the rollers 62 willengage them at the time the cranes are finishing their inner stroke andreceiving the most strain,

these cam faces, owing to the forward movement of the cranes, positivelyforcing the cranes inwardly. I p

The wire 4 is positively held in position to be engaged by the needle 7by extending. a spring gulde finger 64 from the guide" block 20, thedownwardly extending free end of the guide finger engaging and holdingthe wire in the path of the needle and will readily move up and out ofthe path of the needle as the needle moves inwardly.

To preventthe sections 22 of the wires 4 being dragged back with theplunger 2, as the plunger makes its rearward stroke, a retainingflatchis pivoted to the side of the baling chamber, one immediately aboveeachplatform 8, the forwardend of each latch having a finger 66,whichdrops down in the path of the wire, when the plunger is *at its forwardstroke, so that as the plunger makes its rearward stroke, the wire 4will ride up on thelinger G6 and enter a notch 67' in the end of the,latch. where it is held until the plunger makes'another forward stroke,such" forward stroke carrying &

the section 2 of the wire into engagement with the detent 5. i

The material being baled is prevented from entering the slots 9 in theplunger by hinging doors 67 to the end of the plunger, so as to swingover the mouth of said slots, the lower edges of the doors terminatingslightly above the lower edges of the slots so that the wires willreadily enter the slots, but the space between the dge ot the slots andthe edge of the doors is so limited as to prevent the entrance of anyor" the material being baled. By hinging the doors at their upper edges,they will readily swing open to permit the wires to leave the slots asthe plunger makes its outward stroke, and will likewise instantly swingto closed position.

As the section 522 of the wire 4: is neces sarily in line with the edgeor the needle and as the wire must pass over the top of the needle whenthe plunger makes its return stroke, means is provided for elevating thewire to prevent its catching on the needle, consisting of a guard 68, solocated that the wire will move up the inclined "face thereof as thewire is being carried through the baling chamber by the needle, the wireengaging the guard just prior to the completion of the inward stroke ofthe needle. In addition to the guard, a tongue 69 is pivotally attachedto the guard 68, one end of the tongue being tapered, this tapered endbeing held so as to contact with the edge of the needle by attaching aspring 70 to Qll the opposite end of the tongue, thus always holding thetapered end of the tongue in position to clause the wire 4 to releasefrom the sheave 27, as the needle and plunger start on their returnstroke, the guard and tongue holding the section of the wire -51:elevated until the needle passes thereunder.

The needles 7 pass through slots 71 in one wall of the baling chamberand to prop erly guide the ends of the needles so that the wires carriedthereby will be positioned between the jaws of the cutting device, apair ot guide plates 72 is entered through each slot 71, said platesbeing angle shaped in cross section, the vertically extending wing ofeach plate fitting over the outer face ofthe baling chamber wall andhaving openings 7?) through which extend se screws 74L for holding theguide plates in adjusted position. As the knots are tied exteriorly or"the baling chamber and as they. mustpass to the interior of the balingchamber, one end of the slots 71 is enlarged sutliciently to permit theknots to pass there through without binding on the walls of the slots. V

The gripper 18 and 19 each consist of a body portion 75, which ismounted in a bracket 76 extending outwardly'trom the wall of. the balingchamber, the body portion being held against rotation and the inner endthereof provided with a stationary finger 7 7 which projects a distanceinwardly from the end of the body. Extending through the body portion isa second finger 78 which is parallel with the finger 77 and spaced adistance therefrom so that the angular-1y disposed portions 17 of thewires 3 and t will readily pass therebetween, the finger 78 having acurved terminal 79 at its inner end which clamps against the finger 77and over the severed ends of the wires and holds them while said endsare secured together.

After the ends of the wire have been gripped by the fingers, the severedends thereof are secured together by means of a twister arm 80,extending forwardly from the inner end of a sleeve 81, rotataby mountedon the body portion 75, the wire engag-v ing edge 82 of the arm 80 beingcurved so that the loose ends of the wire will be carried inwardly whenthe sleeve 81 is rotated, the inward movement of the wires being limitedby a stop 83 adjacent the extreme inner end of the arm 80. This carriesthe ends of the wires beyond the free ends of the fingers 77 and 78,consequently a continued rotation of the sleeve will twist the looseends of the wires a number of times around the angularly extending parts17 of the wires, thus securing the ends of the wires together as shownand claimed in Patent No. 1,085,938, dated February 3, 1914.

As previously stated, the grippers are arranged in pairs and the numberof pairs is determined by the number of ties placed around the bale,each gripper having a sleeve, which sleeves are preferably driven inunison in. any preferred manner, but preterably by placing sprockets 011the sleeves with which cooperate a sprocket chain 84, which is in turndriven by a sprocket 85 carried by a shaft 86, a tensioning device 87being provided for maintaining the proper tension on the chain 84.

Alto mounted on the shaft 86 is a pinion 88 which meshes with a gear 89mounted on the shaft 49 the gear teeth being omitted from, substantiallyone half the periphery of the gear 89 forming a Geneva stop mechanism,so that the pinion 88 will be held against rotation when the smoothportion 90 or" the gear 89 is brought into ongagement with the pinion.By arranging the gears in this manner. the shaft 4-9 may make a partialrevolution for operating the switch point -16 and also to permit theneedle to position the wires to be engaged by the grippers, before thepinion is brought into engagement with the teeth of the gearConsequently the pinion is held static-nary during a portion or" therevolution or" the gear 89 and given a numbero'f revolutions during theremainder of the move ment of said gear.

The operation of the grippers is controlled by a cam 91, mounted on theshaft 19. The diameter of substantially one half 92 of the periphery ofthe cam being of a greater diaineter than the other half 93, theenlarged portion of the cam serving to throw the free end of a lever 94:laterally, whensaid enlarged portion engages a roller 95 carried by thelever, the lever being held in its thrown position so long as the rollerremains in engagement with the periphery of the enlarged portion. I V

The movement of the lever 9 away from the axis of the gear 89 serves tomove the curved terminals 79 of the fingers 78 away from the fingers 7 7this being accomplished by means of a link 96, one end of which isattached to the lower portion of the lever and the opposite end to onearm 'of a bell crank lever 97, pivotedvto the frame of the baling press,the opposite arm of the bell crank lever having one end of a pitman 98attached thereto, and said pitnianis in turn attached to one end of aframe 99;

The frame 99 is pivoted between its ends to a bracket 100, dependingfrom one of the gripper supporting brackets 76' and connected to saidframe on opposite sides of its pivot point,-are thrustbars 101 and 102,links 103 and arms 10% being employed for connecting said bars with theframe. The upper and lower ends of the bars 101 and 102 are pivotallyconnected with crank arms 105 which arms are in turnattached to theouter ends of the gripping fingers 78 and the terminal ends of saidfingers are moved toward or from'the stationary gripping fingers 77 bythe movement of said bars 101 and 102.

As it is necessary to quickly snap the curved terminals 79 intoengagementwith the fingers 7 7 so as to obviate the possibility of thewires escaping from between said fingers, when cut, a coiled spring 106is connectedat one end to the extended end of the frame 99, the otherend of said spring being connected to partsof'the'baler frame. When theroller 95 is engaged withthe enlarged edge portion 92 of the cam 91, theterminals 79 will be moved away from the fingers 7'T-andare held in thisposition as long as the roller is in engagement with said edge '92, butas soon as the cam 91 has rotated the distance of substantially one halfits diameter, the roller 95 will'release from the'edge 92, whereuponthespring 106 will rock the frame 99 on its pivot and move the terminals79 into engagement with the wires between them and the fingers 77 andwill be held in this position until the roller 95 is again moved to theperiphery of the edge portion 92. I

The pivoted jaws 15 are moved towards and from the stationary jaws 14 bymeans of a connecting bar 107, which is pivoted to the extended ends ofthe jaws 15, the lower end of the bar having a slot 108 therethroughthrough which extends an operating lever 109. One" end of the lever 109is 'pivotally attached to a part of the baling chamber while theopposite endthereof extendsfinto the path of a stud 110 on the face ofthe gear 89, said stud raising the free end of the lever 109 and movingthe cutting end of the jaws 15 towards the cutting edge of the jaws 1aand severing'the wires 3 and l therebetween. The stud 110 is sopositioned that the wires will be severed just prior to the teeth of thegear 89 coming into engagement with the pinion 88. As soon as the lever109 releases from the stud 110, it is returned to its lowered positionby means of a spring 111, this action swinging the jaws 15 to openposition and 4. o v a A H In operation, thefsubstance being baled is fedinto the baling chamber in the path of the plunger and the reciprocatingaction of the plunger forces said substance into one end of the b-alingchamber and forms abale, the ends of thewires 3 and a being previiouslysecured together and extended across the path of the substance beingbaled. As soon as a sufficient quantity of the material has been forcedinto the baling chamber to form a bale of the proper dimensions, thelatch 60 is released from the clutch lever 59, by means of a manuallyoperated push rod'112, or otherwise, which actionimparts driving powerfromthe sprocket chain 58 to the shaft 49. v o v j The rotation of theshaft 49 operates the disc-i8 and moves therod 51 lengthwise and swingsthe switch point a6 across the path of the trunnion 4:1 and causes it totravel in the section 45 of the guideway 42, which causes the cranes andneedles attached thereto to travel inwardly, the needles forcingsections of the wires 4 transversely through the baling chamber, onesection 23being across the inner end of the bale and the' other section22 across the path of the material for the next succeeding bale.

The completion of the stroke of the needles carries the wires 3 and 4between the jaws of the shears 16 and between the fingers of thegrippers 18 and 19, when the cam 91 willhave rotated a suflicientdistance to release the roller 95 from the enlarged porltion 92. Thespring 106 will then snap the curved terminals of the fingers 78 intoengagement with the fingers77, gripping that portion of the wiresbetween saidfingers and holding the same against longitudinal movement.i

' Coincident to the gripping of the wires forked ends of the needles,will be severed and as the cogged portion of the gear 89 has now reachedthe pinion 88, rotating motion ready to receive the wires 3 7 I as bythe fingers; the wires ,3 and 1, between the 7 twister arms operated tosecure the severed ends of the wires together, the section 22 v beingsecured to that portion of the wire 8 7 along the side of the forwardportion of the baling chamber and the section to that portion of thewire 3 along one side of the bale 6.

The rearward movement of the plunger will restore the cranes and needlesto their initial positions and the disc 48 will have turned until theend of the rod 51 again enters the notch 50 in the disc 48, which againmoves the rod 51 in the opposite direction and swings the switch pointacross the entrance to the section 4.5 of the guideway 42 and thusprevents the inward swinging movement of the cranes and needles untilthe switch point is again thrown across the path of the trunnion 41.Just prior to the stopping of the rotation of the shaft 49, the cam 91will have rotated a sufiicient distance to again engage the roller 95with the enlarged portion 92 of the cam 91, thus releasing the tied endsof the wires from the grippers and holding said gripper fingers inposition to receive additional wires. Likewise, at the completion of therotation of the gear 89, the smooth portion thereof will have turnedinto registration with the pinion 88, thus stopping further rotation ofthe twister arms.

As the needles move outwardly they will freely pass below the sections22 of the wires 4 as said sections will be held in an elevated positionso as to pass over the spreader arms 24 by the members 68 and 69, whilethese sections will be elevated above the path of the extension 10 bymeans of a tapered guide member 113, positioned in the rear of thesheave 12.

The parts of the baler are now all set for another operation and as soonas the plunger has formed another bale, the wire tying means is againset in motion and the above operation repeated.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a baling machine, a baling chamber, a plunger movably mounted insaid chamber, a needle movable transversely through said plunger andbaling chamber, said baling chamber having a wire along one side thereofadapted to be carried through from one side of said plunger to theother, disposing portions of said wire transversely across the balingchamber, and means for elevating one of said transversely disposedsections out of the path of said needle during the return stroke of theneedle.

2. In a baling machine, a baling chamber, a plunger reciprocatinglymounted in said baling chamber, said baling chamber having baling wiresextending along each side there of, means influenced by the movement ofsaid plunger for carrying a section of the chamber,

wires at one side of the baling chamber transversely through the balingchamber and disposing portions of the wire in the path of the plunger,means for controlling the positions of said transversely extendingportions, and means for holding one of the transversely extendingportions against movement with the plunger on its outward stroke.

3. In a baling machine, a baling chamber having baling wires extendingalong the sides thereof and across one end of the bale, a plunger insaid baling chamber adapted to compress material into bales, meanscarried by and movable with said plunger for extending a portion of oneset of wires across the opposite end of the bale and an additionalportion across the path of the material for forming the next bale, andmeans operable by the movement of the plunger for controlling the meansfor carrying the portions of the wires across the path of the bales.

4. In a baling machine, a baling chamber, I

having at one side thereof a baling wire adapted to be carried throughthe baling chamber by the needle and disposed two sections of the wiretransversely of the chamher, and means for causing one of the transversesections to release from and pass over the needle on the reverse strokeof the needle.

6. In a baling machine, a baling chamber, a needle adapted to passtransversely through said baling chamber, said baling chamber having atone side thereof a baling wire adapted to be carried through said balingchamber by said needle and dispose sections of the wire transverselythrough the baling chamber, and means carried by said needle for forcingsaid wire sections in opposite directions away from the sides of theneedle.

7. In a baling machine, a baling chamber, having baling wirescooperating therewith, a needle for forcing sections of the wire at oneside of the baling chamber transversely through the baling chamber anddispose two sections of the wire crosswise of the baling spreader armscarried by the needle, means for guiding said needle, and means forguiding said spreader arms for cranes, a crank arm associated with andadapted to swing said cranes towards or from the baling chamber, atrunnion on said crank arm, a guideway inwhich said trunnion travels,said guideway having diverging sections, one of which extends in linewith the movement of said plunger and the 7 other at an angle thereto,and automatically operated means for causing said trunnion to travel inelther of the dlverging sectionsof the guideway, whereby the cranes andneedles will be held inoperative or caused to operate, incident to themovement of said plunger. I

9. In a baling machine, gripping fingers arranged in pairs, means forentering balmg wires between the pairs of fingers, means for snappingone of the fingers of each pair against the other finger of the samepair for gripping the wires therebetween, means for severing the wires,and means for twisting the associated severed ends of the wirestogether.

10. In a baling machine, gripping devices, each comprising a stationarybody portion, a finger fixed to the body portion, a companion fingerrotatably mounted through said body portion, a terminal at one end ofthe companion finger, and means for quickly throwing the terminaltowards the fixed finger for clamping sections of wire between saidfingers.

11. In a baling machine, a plurality of gripping devices, eachcomprising a stationary body portion, a finger fixed to said bodyportion, a companion finger rotatably mounted through the body portion,a terminal at one end of the companion finger adapted to be moved towardand grip objects between the terminal and fixed finger, means fornormally holding the terminal away from the fixed finger, means forreleasing the holding means, and means for quickly throwing the terminalinto engagement with the fixed finger when the holding means isreleased.

12. In aha-ling machine, a plurality of gripping devicesarranged inpairs, a pair of gripping fingers on each gripping device one of whichisstationary and the other rotatable, a terminal on each rotatable fingeradapted to be moved into engagement with and grip objects between saidpairs of fingers, means for connecting said rotatable fingers in series,a single means for simultaneously operating all of said rotatablefingers, means for normallyholding said terminals away from the fixedfingers, and means for quickly moving said terminals into engagementwith the fixed fingers.

13. In a baling machine, a plurality of gripping devices arranged inpairs, means for simultaneously operating all of said gripping devices,a wire twisting arm operable with each gripping device, a sprocketconnected to each arm, a single sprocket chain engaging said sprocketsfor operating all of said wire twisting arms simultaneously, and aGeneva stop mechanism for intermittently operating the twisting armoperating means.

In testimony whereof we hereto afiix our signatures.

' THOMAS S. PEARSON.

JOHN H. GENTRY.

